We are only able to accommodate a limited number of talks and
visits each year, and take bookings on a first come, first served
basis.

If you would like to arrange a visit to the Maps Reading Room,
or invite a member of the maps staff to speak to your group, then
please contact us
as early as possible, ideally with a choice of possible dates.

Visits to the Maps Reading Room

Visits to the Maps Reading Room
are suitable for small groups (up to 15). Such visits would usually
include a short talk on maps, a chance to view a range of items
from the collection and an introduction to the Maps Reading Room.
They usually last between one and two hours.

The visit can be tailored to the particular interest of the
group, or provide a more general introduction to our collection.
Recent topics have included:

Maps for family and local history

Maps of Stirlingshire

Maps for landscape design students.

We are happy to welcome local groups and societies, students and
academics or professional groups.

Visiting groups need to make their own arrangements for
transport and refreshments. There are no private parking spaces at
our Causewayside building, due to
building works.

Speaking at external events

Map staff can provide talks to groups outside of the National
Library of Scotland on map-related topics.

This may be a one-off talk to an interested group or could
include participation in larger events such as festivals,
conferences or seminars.

We can only accommodate a limited number of requests for
external talks each year, and it is helpful to give our staff
plenty of notice, and ideally a choice of possible dates.

Public workshops

We offer three public workshops each quarter. You can book
places on these workshops online or by contacting our Events team
on 0131 623 3274. See the readers'
workshops page for dates and times.

An introduction to maps

NLS is home to one of the largest map collections in the world.
Our shelves hold everything from town plans to world atlases,
railway maps to star charts. Learn about the range of maps
available, and view a selection of highlights from the collection.
Includes an introduction to the Maps Reading
Room.

Maps for family and local history

Find out how maps can help with your family or local history
research. Learn about the range of historical maps held by NLS, and
the information they provide. Includes an introduction to the Maps Reading
Room.

NLS maps website and digital mapping

The Map images website
includes over 50,000 zoomable images of maps, primarily relating to
Scotland over the last four centuries. This workshop in our IT
training suite will help you to make best use of the Map images
website, as well as the related modern digital map resources
available at NLS.